Shows changes in the distribution of scores on a set of tests used by the Danish draft board since the late 1950s to the present. The marked gains in cognitive abilities seen in the earlier years have been replaced by very modest gains in the last 10 years. These recent gains appear primarily in a test of visuo-spatial abilities. (Author/SLD)

Reports research using eye-tracking methods to investigate how native Japanese speakers read kanji script. Focus is on the relationship between phonology in reading kanji and the spatial ability of the reader. Findings suggest, that regardless of the reader's spatial orientation, phonological coding is an important factor in understanding kanji.…

A study of 1,283 academically talented junior high students found that males had higher scores on three of the four subtests of the Spatial Test Battery of the Institute for the Academic Advancement of Youth. Females scored higher on the visual memory test and spent more time on the tests. (Author/CR)

Aspects of cognitive processing were evaluated for 462 adolescents followed for 14 years. Adolescents had been exposed prenatally to a broad range of maternal drinking, mostly at "social" levels. Alcohol-related deficits on cognitive tasks were summarized by a speed-accuracy trade-off on the spatial-visual reasoning task. (SLD)

This study examined 40 preschool children's knowledge of learning centers in their classrooms. Results revealed that children were more able to name an activity for each center than to name the centers, and were least able to describe the developmental purposes of the centers. Children's drawings of their classrooms suggest that they recognize the…

The effects of training on first, third, and fifth graders' spatial perspective taking with multiobject two-dimensional arrays were assessed in two studies. Found that, on an immediate test of retention, performance was significantly better for those subjects trained with feedback present than for nontrained students. (MDM)

Examined task factors, cognitive processes, and individual differences as determinants of performance in 188 adults locating a position on a topographical map. Both spatial visualization ability and a visual learning style were found to be effective predictors of performance. A form of verbal strategy training produced significantly improved…

Comparison of the correlates of two spatial ability tests that used the same item type but different test design principles (cognitive design versus psychometric design) indicated differences in the factorial complexity of the two tests. For the sample of 209 undergraduates, the impact of verbal abilities was substantially reduced by applying the…

This brief article identifies software that supports visual spatial intelligence, a characteristic of many intellectually gifted children. Such software should be complex, flexible, and include visual components. The review of five software titles provides information on appropriate ages, computer compatibility, and source, as well as an…

Investigated the potentialities of teaching the concept of measuring surfaces to primary school children. Children tested in covering the surface of an object using socially significant materials (e.g., cardboard rectangles vs. car pictures and a drawing of a parking lot) were found to complete the task at ages younger than expected. (JPB)

A study compared 11 Italian children (ages 7-11) with nonverbal learning disabilities (NVLD) to 49 controls on four tasks requiring visuospatial working memory and visual imagery. Results found the children with NVLD showed deficits in the use of visuospatial working memory and visual imagery. (Author/CR)

Uses a cross section to enhance three-dimensional knowledge of the anatomy of a canine head. Involves (n=124) veterinary students dissecting the head and experimental groups also identifying structures on a cross section of the head. Reports a positive impact of this experience on participant students. (Contains 52 references.) (Author/YDS)

Indicates that writing Chinese is correlated to Chinese-American (CA) students' spatial skills and investigates whether writing Chinese would have the same relationship to mathematics skills. Suggested a strong correlation between writing Chinese and success on SAT-Math. Supports the cultural relativity theory of gender difference on SAT-Math.…

A fundamental question of perceptual development concerns how infants come to perceive partly hidden objects as unified across a spatial gap imposed by an occluder. Much is known about the time course of development of perceptual completion during the first several months after birth, as well as some of the visual information that supports unity…

The goal of the present study was to determine whether extensive soccer or swimming practice biased the perception of the gravitational vertical, when judgments were made using the kinesthetic modality. Finding such a relation would support the notion that experiences influencing posture also bias vertical perception and, by implication, postural…